E90 binding brakes

[Solo Man]

I am having a problem with binding brakes on my 2008 E90 pre lci 330d auto . In the mornings when i drive the car out of the garage (i park the car with the back end first) that the brakes bind for about 100 metres or so before i can hear and feel the car moving freely. Have any one had a similar experience and what was the solution/cause? Car has 91k on the clock and is still under MP. I want to resolve the problem before it goes out of MP in July.Thanks!

 

[Philip Foglar]

Are you sure it's the brakes, and not the handbrake that may be over-adjusted? Next time you leave the garage in the morning, test this by lifting the handbrake a bit when it's doing this to see if it affects this.

The problem is, if the handbrake has been over-adjusted, then it is very possible that the hub and drum part of the disks will have been overheated! This happened to me some years back courtesy of BMW when they adjusted my car's handbrake - but in my case I was aware of a terrible rumbling sound with then became a nasty vibration a few days later when driving on the N1! Limped the car to the nearest BMW dealership and this is what they found. Had the dealership that serviced my car under motorplan replace the rear disks and handbrake shoes at their cost (motorplan).

 

[Solo Man]

Definitely not the handbrake. MP shows rear disc pads replaced at 46k, then the fronts at 68k and again the rears at 78k!! Never heard of rear pads replaced before fronts and then twice in 78k kms! There is something wrong and i would like it fixed before MP expires in July.

 

[sageman]

@solo man, i purchased an 09 335i with 54k km about two weeks ago and have the same issue. I have the service history on the car and in those 54k km i see the rear brakes have been replaced 3 times??

But what i have noticed is depending on how i park the car leads to me having the issue. My parking spot has an incline, so it i park with the nose higher then the boot i have no issue. If i reverse park into my parking spot with the boot higher then the nose i have this binding issue each and everytime??? So i dont reverse park anymore....

At the next service i will run it by the techies and see what they think?

 

[Solo Man]

I have the problem with the car every morning when i want to use it. The car is parked level in my garage with not even the handbrake on. As it is an auto i have to press the brake pedal to get it into drive but when i release the brake i can feel the brakes holding the car back. I have a short steep incline through my gate and then i turn right and down the street i can still feel the brakes for about 50 - 100 metres. About 200m down the road there is a stop. After the stop it is fine. I did notice last week whilst driving later in the day that i could hear the brakes squealing without me braking or having the hand brake on. I remember having a 1981 528i 5 Series BMW that had a not similar problem but something much to that effect as it would brake even after i had let go of the brake pedal when pulling away from a robot or stop. I think it was a common problem then for when i complained about it the mechanic immediately knew what to do. It was the master cylinder rubbers which they replaced and the problem was solved.
I am taking my car in tomorrow for the Dealer to grease the caliper sliders to see if it will make a difference. I will try and speak to the foreman to pick his brains about the problem and hear if they have had similar issues with other cars. Will report back!

 

[sageman]

Thanks would be good to know what the issue is.

 

[Philip Foglar]

Hmm, sounds different to what I thought then - I would just have the agents take a look at it and sort it out! Rear brakes can wear quicker than the front, especially with a 330d and all that torque that the traction control has to contend with. But then your rear tyre wear would also be high! :thumbs:

 

[George Smooth]

I have had a similar problem since around 12,000km, I am on 65,000 now.
In my case the rear brakes bind every time I come to a stop.
The cause of this is the up hill assist which works with a level meter that sits on the rear left axle. It's basically a plastic rod connected to a sensor. My car has been to BMW 6 times over the years for regular service and they have never been able to fix it or didn't bother. I have been able to adjust it to work for a while myself and then it goes back to faulty again. I ordered new assembler pieces a few time and I always get the wrong parts.
It also affects the leveling of the xenons cause the car thinks it's on a uphill the whole time. This is a easy way to test if your car has a similar problem.

 

[Andy1GP]

I have had a similar problem since around 12,000km, I am on 65,000 now.
In my case the rear brakes bind every time I come to a stop.
The cause of this is the up hill assist which works with a level meter that sits on the rear left axle. It's basically a plastic rod connected to a sensor. My car has been to BMW 6 times over the years for regular service and they have never been able to fix it or didn't bother. I have been able to adjust it to work for a while myself and then it goes back to faulty again. I ordered new assembler pieces a few time and I always get the wrong parts.
It also affects the leveling of the xenons cause the car thinks it's on a uphill the whole time. This is a easy way to test if your car has a similar problem.

This sounds exactly like the issue I had. I replaced the rear pads and then it seemed to work normally again. Touch wood no further issues.

 

[Solo Man]

Took the car in yesterday to have the binding brakes problem looked at. The Agents greased the sliders on the rear brake calipers and then replaced the rear discs and pads. i then mentioned that the front discs are also in need of replacement upon which they measured them and said they would replace them as well. Did not have stock so said if i wait they will get some and fit them. Anyway, the discs only arrived just before three in the afternoon so i said i need the car and will bring it in some time later in the year (before MP expires in July), as the pads were still ok and there are no vibrations when i brake. I did speak to the workshop manager asking him about the rear disc pads being replaced twice at 46k and 76k and he said that is normal??? I asked why he says that and he said yes i must remember they are smaller and thinner!! so they will go first (he has 30 years in the trade so who am i to argue with him) In all of my 45 years of driving and working on cars as a hobby i have never had to replace the rear pads before the fronts. It just does not make sense! Anyway, will take the car in to have the front discs and pads replaced at my convenience.

 

[Philip Foglar]

Do you guys then also have that often persistent brake squeal at low speeds? You know, when the car is just driving around the neighbourhood and you are not applying them at that moment...

 

[George Smooth]

Do you guys then also have that often persistent brake squeal at low speeds? You know, when the car is just driving around the neighbourhood and you are not applying them at that moment...

A lot of guys get that. I have only changed pads in the front once and they silent. The rears sometimes do it and others not. I have only done rear pads once through motorplan and the other six times myself. My wife keeps the traction light on the whole time. :roflol:

 

[Philip Foglar]

Do you guys then also have that often persistent brake squeal at low speeds? You know, when the car is just driving around the neighbourhood and you are not applying them at that moment...

A lot of guys get that. I have only changed pads in the front once and they silent. The rears sometimes do it and others not. I have only done rear pads once through motorplan and the other six times myself. My wife keeps the traction light on the whole time. :roflol:

After the last motorplan service where they had replaced all brake pads I began to notice the brakes would squeal a fair amount on hot days (in this case actual braking), so I decided to get my hands dirty and strip the brakes to see if they had applied any copper grease or other anti-squeal paste. Nothing! I mean, I don't even think they cleaned the areas of the callipers that hold the brake pads! So cleaned and applied some copper grease myself which helped that problem, but I still get the occasional low speed of brake squeal which is so annoying! I tends to get worse as the brake dust accumulates, so after a thorough wash of the car and brakes it's a lot better usually.

But I do think that the hill assist is possibly adding or causing this and the above problems...